CACREP core area 3 of 9
Human Growth & Development for the NCE
29 topics, each with a free study summary, a cheat sheet, and a practice question with rationales. New to this area? Start with the Human growth and development for the NCE overview.
Foundational Developmental Theories
- Erikson's psychosocial stagesall eight crises, ages, virtues, clinical applicationHigh-yield
- Piaget's cognitive developmentfour stages; conservation, object permanence, egocentrismHigh-yield
- Freud's psychosexual stagesstages, fixation concept, relation to later theoryFrequently tested
- Vygotsky's sociocultural theoryzone of proximal development, scaffoldingFrequently tested
- Kohlberg's moral developmentthree levels/six stages, Heinz dilemma logicHigh-yield
- Gilligan's ethics of carecritique of Kohlberg, care vs. justice orientations
- Fowler's faith developmentstage progression, counseling relevance
- Havighurst's developmental taskstask concept across life periods
Attachment & Early Development
- Bowlby's attachment theoryphases of attachment, internal working models, adult echoesHigh-yield
- Ainsworth's strange situationsecure, avoidant, ambivalent, disorganized classificationsHigh-yield
- Harlow's contact comfort studiesclassic findings and implications
- Temperamenteasy/difficult/slow-to-warm, goodness of fit
- Prenatal development & teratogenscritical periods, common teratogen effects
Learning & Behavior Foundations
- Classical conditioningPavlov paradigm, extinction, generalization, counterconditioningHigh-yield
- Operant conditioningreinforcement/punishment matrix, shaping, extinctionHigh-yield
- Schedules of reinforcementfixed/variable × ratio/interval, resistance to extinctionFrequently tested
- Bandura's social learning theoryobservational learning, self-efficacy, Bobo doll studiesHigh-yield
- Memory & cognition basicsencoding/storage/retrieval, primacy-recency
Adolescence Through Later Life
- Marcia's identity statusesdiffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, achievementFrequently tested
- Adolescent egocentrismimaginary audience, personal fable
- Adult developmentLevinson's seasons, emerging adulthood, midlife transition evidence
- Theories of agingactivity vs. disengagement, primary vs. secondary aging
- Kübler-Ross's stages of griefthe five stages, appropriate use and critiquesHigh-yield
- Worden's tasks of mourningtask model as alternative to stages
Adversity, Trauma & Resilience
Motivation & Wellness Models
Study this area with practice that adapts
Practice questions, flashcards, and a spaced-review queue for every topic, plus timed NCE practice exams. Start with a free topic.